The present invention relates generally to interment caskets, and more specifically to a casket assembly wherein a removable casket shell may be attached over a burial box or compartment until the time of closing the grave, at which point the casket shell may be removed for future reuse with a different burial compartment.
The traditional design of burial caskets includes both surface ornamentation, and selection of attractive materials such as chromium plated metals and polished hardwoods. As a result, even the simplest of burial caskets represents an expensive purchase, to only be later buried. This expense could be reduced by including reusable parts in the construction of the casket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,768 describes a casket having a quickly interchangeable and adjustable interior. The patent addresses longitudinal fastening elements disposed along the upper edge of the internal chamber of the casket. A female fastening element, secured inside the chamber, receives male fastening elements that have draped fabric attached to them, to decorate the inside of the casket chamber. The patent provides for variation of fabric decoration inside the casket and possible reuse of such decoration if it is removed from the casket prior to burial. While decorative fabrics may be expensive, their impact on cost reduction, through reuse, is relatively small. A better approach to cost reduction would be avoidance of burial of the ornate casket structure and providing a way to reuse that structure, or at least a portion thereof.
In view of the above described deficiencies associated with the use of known designs for burial caskets, the present invention has been developed to alleviate these drawbacks and provide further benefits to the user. These enhancements and benefits are described in greater detail hereinbelow with respect to several alternative embodiments of the present invention.
The present invention in its several disclosed embodiments alleviates the drawbacks described above with respect to conventionally designed interment caskets and incorporates several additionally beneficial features. Features of interest include the provision of an ornamental casket shell that may be re-used numerous times to cover a plurality of burial compartments, each one of which remains in the grave after detachment of the reusable casket shell. Each burial compartment includes a closure so that the compartment becomes an enclosed compartment, isolated from its surroundings, with the closure in its closed position. The design of captive closures, for burial compartments of the invention, allows them to slide lengthwise, between an open and a closed position, in channels or grooves formed in the inner sidewalls of a burial compartment. Alternatively, a detached board or door, sized to fit the burial compartment opening, may be used as a closure. No matter whether captive or detached, closures of the invention, in their closed position, also include mechanisms for maintaining them in a secured condition.
Since only the closed and secured burial compartment is subject to actual burial, and the casket shell may be reused, the casket assembly of the invention is less costly traditional caskets. The invention benefits from the attractive appearance of the ornamental casket shell, placed over the burial compartment, while reducing the effective expense of the shell through cost defraying, multiple uses with other burial compartments. By combining an ornamental, reusable casket shell with an economical burial compartment, made from low cost materials, the casket assembly of the invention provides an attractive, low-cost alternative to conventional ornate caskets of traditional design.
Formation of the reusable casket assembly of the invention requires attachment of the casket shell to the burial compartment. This involves a variety of means for releasably connecting the casket shell to the burial compartment including bolted, latched or clamped connections.
More specifically, the reusable casket assembly of the invention includes a closable burial compartment configured to accommodate enclosure of a body within its interior. The burial compartment may be releasably attached inside a decorative casket shell thereby allowing disengagement of the burial compartment from the casket shell for burial of the compartment exclusive of the casket shell which may be reused with a different burial compartment. Releasable attachment of the burial compartment to the casket shell uses several methods including clamps, brackets, latches, and coupling bars terminated with knobs or grips or toggles and the like.
One embodiment of the closable burial compartment includes a closure, sized to fill the open top of the compartment. The closure may be attached to the burial compartment or separate therefrom to be secured in place just before interment. Any number of suitable mechanisms and methods of securement, such as the use of latches, screws, nut and bolt combinations and the like represent appropriate ways to securely retain the closure in the closed position.
The beneficial effects described above apply generally to the exemplary devices and mechanisms disclosed herein of the reusable casket assembly. The specific structures through which these benefits are delivered will be described in detail hereinbelow.